Wireless charging technologies have found application in the field of mobile computing devices and accessories pertaining thereto, particularly with respect to smartphones. Two general types of wireless charging currently exist, including magnetic induction-type charging and magnetic resonance-type charging. Of these two types, magnetic induction-type wireless charging components are relatively more common.
Magnetic induction-type charging standards are set by a standards body, and a prominent magnetic induction-type charging standard that currently exists is the Qi (Chi) standard. Using the Qi standard, mobile computing devices are available to receive 5 W of wireless power transferred over distances of up to 4 cm. A typical wireless charging configuration using the Qi standard includes a power receiver having an RX antenna coil with a power receiver integrated circuit (IC), which receives power from a wireless charging pad having a TX antenna coil when the RX antenna coil is placed in alignment with the TX antenna coil.
Magnetic induction-type charging is available in mobile computing devices, such as smartphones, equipped with a wireless charging unit having an RX antenna coil and a corresponding IC. For smartphones that are not equipped with a wireless charging unit, smartphone cases have been developed that allow for the case, which includes a wireless charging unit, to be plugged into a smartphone to provide wireless charging functionality to the smartphone. However, the existing products typically use proprietary standards and are not Qi compatible, and additionally monopolize the smartphones' power and data port (for example, the mini-Universal Serial Bus (USB) port in Android and Windows-compatible phones and the “lightning” port in recent Apple smartphones) such that other uses of the port (whether for power or for data) become unavailable.